As market conditions changed, A123 found new ways to succeed. The Waltham battery maker is hoping CEO David Vieau will once again find his magic touch.
David Vieau, chief executive of A123 Systems Inc., has always managed to find new markets and new money just when the advanced battery maker really needed them.
When the Waltham company was a small start-up searching for a customer, Vieau convinced power tool maker Black & Decker to buy his firm’s lithium ion batteries — even though A123 had no commercially available product. After General Motors chose a competitor to make batteries for the Chevy Volt, Vieau landed contracts with Chrysler and SAIC Motor Corp., China’s largest car maker.
And as alternative energy companies struggled to raise capital during the last recession, Vieau took A123 public with a roughly $380 million initial stock offering.
A123 now needs Vieau’s magic touch more than ever if it is to avoid becoming the next Solyndra, the bankrupt California solar company that defaulted on more than $500 million in federal loan guarantees. A123, which also received hundreds of millions of dollars in government support, said in a recent regulatory filing that it could run out of cash in four to five months unless it can raise more money.
